I met him at the Grasscourt Championships at Edinburgh's Craiglockhart in 1987. I asked for his autograph and a photo and he was very, very nice. I don't think they had that tournament again. I think McEnroe is still the defending champion. Yeah was that the match that he played Jimmy Connors in he final?I think both Andy and Lendl have a very dry sense of humour. I'm really excited about 2012.

Really nice down to earth sort of guy - exactly like our Andy. I'm liking this match up more and more (even though I wasn't a Lendl fan in his day as Johnnie Mac was more my sort of tennis player). And I gather Andy referred to him as 'Mr Lendl' in his post-match interview, something about him hiding in the stands? Shows a nice mixture of respect and gentle teasing sounds like, which is just right.

My son caddied for Lendl when he played Carnoustie several years ago - he didn't know anything about him other than he was a famous 'old' tennis player but came home singing his praises saying what a nice down to earth guy he was with a great sense of humour - and he gave him a great tip!

Love that Alis. I'm always interested in 'real' stories because we get an insight into the actual person rather than what the media feeds us.Thanks for sharing.

It really does bring back that era. The rivalries were fierce and no-one pretended that they were best pals with the opposition. I'm sure that didn't mean that they were all at war and it would appear that most of them have settled their differences now. Nowadays everyone is supposed to be on great terms - I just don't believe it. I'm sure some of them get on but Federer and Murray - I don't think so!!

Exactly. There are no flies on Muzz, he (and Nole) sussed out Fed's BS from the get go.

Hopefully this is the final piece of the jigsaw in place to help Andy achieve his GS goal. Lendl for sure will help with the mental aspect aswell as physical. I can see this could also turn Andy into a legitimate threat at RG too so Nadal watch out!!!

My acknowledgement is to Michelle for this very encouraging information, which she posted on another thread, since this mean-fisted Scot wasn't willing to pay The Times £2 for the privilege of accessing the article in question!

This is part of an article by Neil Harman in todays Times. This is what Darren Cahill said"Getting a good person alongside like Ivan is crucial. I was there at the first meeting in Miami last month. We sat down for three hours talking about tennis and I thought Ivan was inspiring. The fact that he has never coached before is irrelevant. he understands the sport and the way he used to go about his game was the mark of a professional athlete." He felt that once Andy wins a GS the floodgates will open. Re Andy's team he said "Andy has a great team, a bunch of strong, loyal,intelligent guys who have been like concrete around him over 5 yrs. For all of them it will be a wonderful day when he fulfills his dream. Hopefully, it's not too far away. I'm confident that it's not."

I like Andy's chances for RG very much. 1) no pressure 2) Ivan will have been working with him for 3 months by then 3) Ivan has won RG 4) Andy reached semis last year 5) Andy was schooled on clay

So there

............ and RG was Lendl's first major which he won totally against the odds having come back from 2 sets down against Johnny Mac. Mac mentioned in his book that that defeat was one that stayed with him for a long, long time and still bugs him to this day - I'm not sure that he ever won RG, did he?